My son's name is Jack Kirby.
To comics people, this is awesome. To me...well, it wasn't. I just thought it was a nice name. It sounded good. Manly. My grandfather's name was Jack, so that added to the appeal.
It wasn't until I got press passes to Baltimore ComicCon in 2009 to "cover" it (read: my husband wanted to go for free) that I realized I had been tricked. John, a big comics fan, kept introducing our son--then about nine months old--to all the vendors, who promptly reacted with more admiration than one would expect to find. I mean, Jack was/is cute, but twentysomething guys don't often react to babies with "DUDE YOUR WIFE LET YOU DO THAT?" When I asked John why everyone was so excited, his pause had a slightly guilty tinge to it.
You see, Jack Kirby is a super-famous comic book guy. He created the X-Men, among other standbys. He is, to put it mildly, well known.
And I missed it. Entirely. I did, however, learn to Google all possible baby names.
Part of my job is to follow pop culture, and there's a huge gap where comic books should live. It means I have to either call John when I have to do something comics-related, or talk with the young guys in the office. Google is helpful, but God forbid I make a mistake because I didn't know that Lois Lane and Lana Lang are different people. It's better to go with the nerds, I find.
So today I went to Third Eye Comics in Annapolis and talked to Steve Anderson, whom I recently interviewed for a story on the differences between the Green Hornet, the Green Lantern and the Green Arrow (did you know Green Arrow is way liberal? I like him already!). I'm giving myself a year or so to learn about the modern state of comics.
Steve gave me three today: "Y, The Last Man," the first of the "Buffy" series (I love "Buffy!") and an X-Men comic written by Joss Whedon. I'll go back for more, as well as keep an eye on what else is going on in the world of comics. With any luck I'll learn more about a pop culture subculture, as well as get a highly lucrative book deal.
